


Ex Animo

by nats_zoo



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Crushes, Cussing, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Fukuroudani, Karasuno, Mentioned Kozume Kenma, Mutual Pining, NON abstract writing style (finally), Nekoma, Oneshot, Reader is Nekoma Manager, This is not great, Volleyball, not edited, reader's personality changes like three times, sarcastic narrator, still kinda sucks tho ngl
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2020-06-19
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:55:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24812677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nats_zoo/pseuds/nats_zoo
Summary: In which you find Tsukishima cute while also pining over Akaashi, and Tsukishima becomes an unwilling matchmaker for the both of you.
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Reader
Comments: 1
Kudos: 93





	Ex Animo

**Author's Note:**

> wow ! another post ! just a day after the last one ! kinda crazy.  
> this time the writing style isn't weirdly abstract and it's more of a cutesy, typical one-shot. this more action-based writing style definitely isn't my forte (then again, no writing style at all is my forte, let's be honest) so it might be a little awkward to read. as always, feel free to leave me any comments on what you thought was good, bad, and how i can improve my writing! thanks for reading :)

“He’s cute.” 

“...What?” 

“The blonde guy that Kuroo and Bokuto are ‘training,’ or whatever.” 

“You think he’s cute?” 

“Well, yeah. I think that’s pretty objective.” 

“...” 

“...?”

“Interesting.” 

You nearly sighed at Akaashi’s emotionless responses. Being a manager of Nekoma opened up the opportunity for you to become friendly with not only your own captain, Kuroo, but the captain of Fukurodani and his setter-best-friend, too. You found yourself becoming increasingly closer to Akaashi as the months passed by, though that didn’t eliminate the mild disappointment you felt at Akaashi’s often indifferent responses. 

You let out an audible sigh just then, bringing yourself back to the present-tense. “Think you could put in a word for me?” 

Your friend, having just been taking a sip from his water bottle, sputtered and choked on the liquid. “Put in _ what? _ ” 

Ah. Now he was expressing an actual emotion. You supposed that was somewhat of an upgrade. “Like, you know. Tell him about me. Say some nice stuff, make me seem… appealing. The usual.” 

  
“I don't really understand what ‘the usual’ is seeing as I’ve never done this before--” 

“Just-- for God’s sake, Akaashi, tell him about me so that he can fuckin’ ask me out.” 

“Why don’t you do that?” 

  
“That’s not how it works.” 

“I don't really unders-- Well, I-- I don’t really think he’d be interested in you.” 

Maybe the way he worded it seemed off to you but your immediate frustration was certainly justified. You narrowed your eyes at him and huffed out a sardonic laugh. “Wow, you’re  _ so  _ nice.” His own gunmetal eyes widened the slightest bit as he re-processed his previous words and you almost laughed at how dense he was. 

“No, that’s not what I--” 

“Never-fuckin’-mind, I’ll just… I’m gonna head to bed.” 

“[Name]--” 

“Akaashi, I’m not mad, stop panicking. See you tomorrow.” 

You walked away, passing by Kuroo and Bokuto and saying goodnight to both of them before heading back to the dorm area where you’d be sleeping with the other managers. Honestly, you really  _ weren’t _ mad--at least, not for the reason Akaashi thought you were. The minor insult he spewed out unknowingly wasn’t really upsetting, it was more that he seemed apathetic at your attempts to flirt with another person. 

Yes, you liked Akaashi--you had a dumb crush on him that Kuroo (and occasionally Kenma, observant and sarcastic as the kid could be) had been hassling you about playfully during the whole camp, yet you had made no outright move to do anything about it. And yes, it was incredibly fucking dumb that you were trying to make him  _ jealous _ (you cringed at the childish thought) when you hadn’t even made an actual outright move to approach him about your feelings, but hey--at least you acknowledged this stuff.

So, yeah--that was your move. Trying to get  _ acquainted _ with the cute blonde from Karasuno who you knew was an asshole, but a  _ hot  _ asshole. Tsuki- _ something _ was his name, and you decided that he doubled as both a serious rebound from Akaashi and a way to  _ maybe _ get the Fukurodani player jealous. Though, it seemed like the former would be a much more realistic outcome, and even  _ that _ was a stretch. 

_ Whatever _ , you sighed in your head as you bid goodnight to the other managers. No need to worry about something like this. They’re just boys. 

Yeah, _a_ _boy_ that you were practically in love with. But what are you gonna do, y’know? 

\---

The next day passed by in a boringly average way. Your interactions with Akaashi were minimal, though you chalked that up to just being busy with your own team and not having much time to spend with your other-school-friends. (Really, you mumbled in your head, what happened last night did not even  _ border _ an argument so there was no reason for him to think you were still upset.) Evening rolled around and you found yourself in the third gym yet again with Kuroo, Bokuto, Akaashi, and Tsukishima. 

At one point, you were chatting casually with Bokuto on the side when Tsukishima approached the two of you. 

“Hey,” he spoke, looking at you in particular. “I need to speak to you for a minute.” 

You blinked. Once. Then twice. This was real? This very attractive first-year that you’ve been materialistically pining after for was requesting to talk to you? Alone? Though, the way he worded it was weird. He spoke formally, like he didn’t really want to be there. Oh well. You’d take what you could. 

You gave a smile. “Sure. ‘S outside okay?” At his nod, you led the way through the double doors of the gym to step outdoors, though not before taking a glance at Akaashi and wondering if the pink of his ears signified that he really did follow your (kind of) joking request from last night.

“Tsukishima, right?” He gave a wordless nod of assurance. “What’d you need me for?” 

“You’re [Last].” A statement, not a question. “I recommend you talk to your friend Akaashi in there.” 

Oh. Not what you were expecting at all. “Uh, okay.” There was silence that you had expected him to fill in himself, but it persisted until you broke the barrier. “Is there… a particular reason why?” 

He gave an aggravated sigh, a contrast to his generally calm demeanor from before. “Just-- you’re a bit dense, both of you.” Nearly letting out an offended gasp, you let him continue, “He tried, uh,  _ indirectly flirting _ for you, I guess, and told me about you, or whatever, and while I’m flattered, it’s a bit obvious that he’s got eyes for you and I recommend you address that soon.” 

He’s got  _ what?! _

You were very convinced this was a joke, but from what you’ve observed, Tsukishima was not one for long-winding pranks like this, both because they were a bit too cruel (not that he’d really mind, let’s be honest) and because they took too much effort to uphold. Nevertheless, you questioned him about both his intentions and further details about the situation. 

“I’m not lying, I wouldn’t really lie about this stuff.” He told you. “If I’m being honest I wouldn’t normally care to do something like this,” that was a bit obvious, “but Kuroo overheard or something, and told me to talk to you. Don’t know why he wouldn’t just do it himself, but-- whatever. Basically, Akaashi just kept talking about you and he had this weird look in his eyes and he said something like ‘you should talk to her, she’s cool,’ and the guy looked like he was in pain, for fuck’s sake. Just say something to him. Doesn’t matter what, just… do it, I guess.” 

Oh. That was actually kind of nice of the blonde, to take some time to actually talk to you. Even if it was pushed by Kuroo, who probably put Tsukishima up to the job because his words (which you’d already heard plenty of time before) would not nearly be as effective as someone who was practically a stranger to you. (A weird dynamic to have, but true nonetheless.) 

You let out a sigh. “Yeah, I’ll, uh, I’ll talk to him. But just to make sure, you’re being serious, right? And you’re, like, very sure about this, right?” 

He rolled his eyes. “I wouldn’t be taking the time to actually do this if I  _ wasn’t  _ serious. I’m not  _ that  _ nice.” 

“I can tell.” 

“Gee, thanks.” 

“Anytime.” 

“You’re kinda cool, though. Even though you’re a little shit. Wanna exchange numbers?” 

_ “Wow, _ you’re  _ still _ flirting with me even though you’ve got a whole guy pining for you right over there.” 

“Hey! Who says I’ve got ulterior motives with you? I can have guy friends, you know.” 

He let out a scoff of amusement and his minor suspicion melted away quite quickly as he took his phone out and asked you to relay your number. After mirroring the process with your own phone, you stepped back into the gym with him, elbowing him playfully as you both continued to banter until halfway through the room where you had to split up, him going back to practice with Kuroo and you going towards Bokuto, who was now standing with Akaashi at the spot you’d left the owl-like boy. 

You gave a smile to the setter, who you’d noticed had been gazing at you discreetly since you’d walked into the gym with Tsukishima. “Heya,” you said to both of the boys. “What’s up?” 

Bokuto gave his usual childish grin and you found yourself contagiously returning it. “Not much! Just talking to ‘Kaashi for a bit. You get that blonde kid’s number?” 

Now that you were hyperobservant of Akaashi’s habits (mainly due to you wanting to absolutely, one-hundred guarantee what said  _ blonde kid _ had told you before you did anything stupid), the way he flinched at Bokuto’s question did not go unnoticed by you. Your lips quirked up in amusement as you responded confidently, “Yeah, actually! He’s pretty funny.” You felt bad torturing the poor setter, but hey, you were gonna end his suffering soon anyways! (Relaying that in your head, you realized that came off a little morbid and assured yourself that you wouldn’t be  _ actually _ killing the guy any time soon.) 

You shifted the topic of conversation, watching with internal humor as Akaashi shifted awkwardly on his feet and stole glances of you when he thought you wouldn't notice.  _ Wow! _ Were you just  _ really _ fucking oblivious before or was he purposely trying to be more obvious about his cute pining stunt. Regardless, you found it both cute  _ and _ a source of entertainment (as sadistic as it was of you to admit) so you didn’t think of it too hard. 

“Hey, maybe we should start heading back.” Kuroo suggested at one point. “Getting a bit late.” 

You shrugged in agreement--not like they were doing anything important, really. You, Bokuto, and Akaashi were talking for a solid half hour and Kuroo and Tsukki seemed to be fooling around with each other ( _ “fooling around” _ entailed Kuroo bothering Tsukki and trying to get him involved in whatever joke he was planning next, of course to no avail, but you appreciated your captain’s sense of determination).

You all exited the gym, Kuroo making sure to turn off the lights and lock it up as needed. You and Akaashi walked in front of the trio as they staggered a bit behind. You glanced to your side, smiling at him fondly. He locked eyes with you and a hint of curiosity was found in his aloof expression. You laughed, light and airy and shook your head. 

“You’re funny sometimes.” You stated simply, and Akaashi couldn’t seem to find much energy in himself to audibly ask for further clarification. A few minutes passed and you decided to make a move, looking at both of your hands and aiming to lock pinkies with him. 

At the feeling of foreign contact, Akaashi jolted and looked up at you, expression more shocked than curious now. You just smiled and turned your head forward, taking the chance to slip your whole hand into his and interlock your fingers like puzzle pieces. 

_ “What are you doing?” _ He finally hissed out, tone laughably frantic. “He’s-- He’s gonna think that we’re dating and that you’re, like trying to cheat on me with him--!” 

“Tsukishima?” You questioned, feigning ignorance. “Nah, he won’t think that. Stop worrying about it.” 

“[Name]--” The genuine panic in his voice was sort of funny, all things considered, and you let out a quiet chuckle. “Seriously, let go. Don’t you wanna  _ get  _ with him? This is a couple thing, and I’m not-- You don't--”

“Yeah, I do.” Your smile was confident and a bit cocky, but you were very certain about the outcome and prepared to be as fun about this as you could be. “Tsukki told me, actually. You should be thanking him. Otherwise I wouldn’t be able to tell you.” 

“Tell… me?” 

You groaned out loud at his unsureness. “That I, you know, like you. Like, a lot. Had a crush on you for months now, man.” 

“But you-- I though you said Tsukishima was… cute?” 

“Well, yeah, he is,  _ objectively. _ But I was really just saying that ‘cause I didn’t think you’d like me back and I was either trying to get you jealous or get some kinda rebound-- whatever it was, it doesn't really matter now, right?” 

Akaashi stared blankly at your alight expression. Moments passed, and you two walked silently, the only noise coming from the trio behind you chatting jovially.

“So, um,” he began. “Just to clarify--” 

“You like me,” you cut him off, “and I like you. A lot. Very much.” 

He finally let out a laugh, of both amusement and relief and shook his head light-heartedly. “God, and I was worried that I’d have to suffer with seeing you and Tsukishima flirt everytime we were in the same room.”

“ _ That _ would’ve been hell.” 

“You’re telling me.” 

The atmosphere was less tense and panicky as it was before (which was mainly Akaashi’s fault, let’s be honest), and your interlocked hands swung between you as you continued to walk in content silence. 

“So, am I…” Akaashi paused, trying to gather his thoughts before continuing, “Can I call you my girlfriend?” 

As cocky as you had been before, hearing it out loud made you flush a light pink and you gave a girlish giggle in response. “Well, yeah. As long as I can call you my boyfriend.” 

“Always.”  _ That _ was fucking cute. You felt your heart flutter and almost scolded yourself internally for acting like such a schoolgirl before ceasing your internal slander--if this was what it was like to have a reciprocated schoolgirl crush then  _ hell fucking yeah _ , you had absolutely no qualms with it. Your steps seemed lighter and bouncier and a soft simper was etched on your face. 

Akaashi split up with the boys at one point, telling them he’d be walking you to the managers’ room (you caught Kuroo and Tsukki smirking at you both, likely in elation that their little three-braincell collaboration was successful, and you resisted the urge to roll your eyes and their cockiness). He made good on his promise, leading you to your room with his hand locked safely around yours until he stopped outside the door, turning to face you completely and letting go of your hand. 

“So…” he muttered, averting his eyes in uncharacteristic bashfulness. You smiled at his demeanor and took the chance to slide your arms around his neck, pulling him the slightest bit closer. 

_ “So…?” _ you mocked playfully, relishing in the short, sweet chuckle he let out. 

“You can kiss me.” At your statement, he cupped your cheek with one hand, gunmetal eyes finally meeting yours. 

“Can I?” He smirked sardonically. Cheeky bastard. 

Rather than responding, you pulled him closer with the arms you locked around his neck, clashing his lips into yours passionately. The heavy kiss simmered down into something much more tender quite quickly, though, with lips moving gently across each other and your head beginning to tilt to the side to allow for a better angle. 

You both parted after a reasonable amount of time spent liplocked, and as you took in deep breaths to make up for the ones you lost, you found yourself laughing at the situation you managed to put yourself in through the course of one night. Akaashi laughed with you, resolving to lean down and put his head on your shoulder, wrapping his arms around your shoulders and pulling you into an embrace. 

“That was great.” He mumbled. 

“I know, right?” 

He pulled back to flick your forehead playfully and you chuckled again. A few moments were spent gazing at each other comfortably until--

_ “Are you guys gonna stop making out in front of the door or what?”  _

You and Akaashi jumped at the sudden opening of the door, frantically turning your heads to see Yukie with a mixed expression bordering on both annoyed and smug. 

“‘S cute and all, but we’ve been hearing you guys mumble outside for, like, ten minutes. And we’d like to have our friend back, please?” She directed her last statement to Akaashi and you laughed with her at his mildly uncomfortable expression. 

“He was gonna give me back eventually,” you answered in his place. “But she does have a point, Akaashi. We’ve been out here for a while.” 

In another moment of uncharacteristic nature, Akaashi’s face simmered into a faint red blush and you swooned at the sight. You unlocked your arms from around him and he mirrored your movements quickly, avoiding eye contact with both you and Yukie. 

Yukie turned to you. “I’ll give you a bit of time.” She gave a glare to Akaashi, “But you  _ better _ hand her over in  _ five minutes.  _ I’m timing you.” 

“So am I!” You heard the familiar voice of Kaori come from inside the room and laughed in amusement as the setter’s face only grew more saturated. “I’ll be right there, I promise.” With an assuring nod and an  _ “I’m-watching-you” _ gesture at Akaashi, Yukie slipped back into the room and closed the door, giving you an Akaashi (some semblance of) privacy again. 

“That was interesting.” 

“That was  _ embarrassing.” _

“For you.” 

“[Name]--!” 

You cut him off with a jeering laugh and rested your head on his shoulders just like he had done moments before. “I go to school with them,” he mumbled dejectedly. “They’re never gonna let that go.” 

“Yeah.” Silence, then, “Well, you can have fun with that.” 

He groaned into your hair and shook his head before the exaggerated noise simmered into light laughter. “I guess I should let you go now.” 

“I guess you should.” You unlocked yourself from around him and smiled fondly, the same emotion prevalent in his eyes. You leaned up and gave him a short peck, entering euphoria for a millisecond before turning towards the door and letting out a sigh of surrender. 

“Goodnight, then.” You spoke, looking back again to get just  _ one last glance of him _ for the night. “I’ll see you tomorrow?” 

“Yeah,” he grinned. “Tomorrow.” 

“You know, maybe we can have out first date with Tsukki! As a little  _ thank-you  _ for getting us together in the first place--” 

“You know, you haven’t even explained that full story yet and I don’t think I want you to.” 

“ _ ‘KaaaaashiiiiI! _ C’mon!” 

“Goodnight.”

“One more kiss?!” 

“Not after that joke.” 

“I was  _ kidding! _ I--!” 

“Goodnight.” 

“...you’re no fun.” 


End file.
